UO’s Historic Preservation Graduate Program Hires New Director, Returns to Eugene
Amalia Leifeste has been appointed to serve as the next Director of Historic Preservation at the University of Oregon, a graduate program that is part of the School of Architecture and Environment from the College of Design. The university moved the program back to Eugene’s main campus after seven years in Portland, where it was anchored in the historic White Stag building.
Historic Preservation Co-Directors Chris Bell and Larissa Rudnicki, who have been navigating both the program’s return to Eugene and the hiring of Director Leifeste recently stated: “We are thrilled to welcome Amalia and Amalia is thrilled to be joining us! Great things to come!”
UO’s Historic Preservation Program is the oldest graduate preservation program west of the Rocky Mountains. The Daily Emerald recently highlighted the news of its return to Eugene.
Please read the Faculty Spotlight on the program’s website, which introduces Amalia.
Amalia Leifeste is trained as an architect and brings that disciplinary background, as well as training in sustainable design, to her role as a preservation educator. She sees preservation practice as an essential to any serious view of sustainability. In research and through her teaching she is interested in how we educate preservation practitioners, how place fosters group identity, and in defining how much and what kind of change can keep buildings useful for current needs without erasing essential touchstones of meaning for people who care about their historic places.